If you see this message your web browser's JavaScript is off. Some links will not work. Find out about
enabling JavaScript.

(Click on pictures below to enlarge. Then use your
browser's
back button to return.)

I was stationed in Germany 1985-1986 during the worst nuclear
disaster in history: The meltdown of the Chernobyl
power plant. All of Europe was concerned with the nuclear fall out from the
accident. While back in Germany, U.S. Forces were on alert because of the bombings of Rhein-Main's Air Force Base in Frankfurt and later the April 5, 1986 bombing of a discotech in Berlin. I remember
seeing the windows blown out on several large buildings near the BX. I was sent to
Rhein-Main on guard duty
while security barriers were installed.

I
worked as a Lance missile crewman during my enlistment. The Lance missile was part of
the Army's artillery. The Lance was a short range (75 miles)
surface-to-surface tactical missile with three available warheads: 1) high
explosive, 2) chemical, and 3) nuclear. The nuclear warhead was the
largest and had multiple settings up to 100 kilotons. Originally, I was assigned to a line battery,
but I spent most of my 3 years attached to Missile Maintenance
in Service Battery (1/32 FA & 1/12 FA). All that time and I never new it was called the
'neutron bomb'. The neutron bomb was designed to target people but not cause
heavy damage to buildings (a building friendly bomb).

The
Lance crewmen were assigned to two different crews. The first crew picked
up the main missile assemblage and warhead (both stored in containers) and
loaded them up on 5-ton trucks. Later they would open the containers
and 'mate' the warhead to the missile. The assembled missile would be
placed onto a tank-like
vehicle called a loader-transporter.

The
second crew would load the missile onto a similar tracked-vehicle capable of
launching the missile. The
tracked-vehicle would drive to a marked location where the missile would be
layed with survey equipment and gunner's sight quadrant attached to the
missile. If it was a nuclear round, launching codes would be entered into
the warhead. The missile would then be launched which was a spectacular
site. I saw the Lance fired at the NATO base in Crete, Greece and in White
Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. I've never seen anything move so fast.
It takes flight at a speed of Mach 3. During battle the Lance missile would be used against the
Soviet's front line.

The
Lance missile has since become declassified and obsolete except as a flying target to
test surface-to-air missiles like the Army's Patriot missile. The
battalion I was assigned to in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma became a Multiple Launch
Rocket System (MLRS) battalion shortly after my end of enlistment.
I have not been able to find any
links to the 1/32 FA where I was stationed in Germany. If anyone knows of
any links to 1/32 FA, Fliegerhorst Kaserne (map,
1/32 FA barracks)
please send me an e-mail.

Further reading on the Lance can be found at 50th
Missile Regiment. More and more information about the Lance can be
found on line. I remember searching the internet in 1997 and finding
absolutely nothing about the Lance missile. Coincidently, the Lance missile was manufactured at the LTV
plant (picture 200K) in Warren,
Michigan, where I live.

SS-1 "SCUD"
-- The Lance's Soviet counterpart. Although it's closer in size and weight
to a Pershing II, both Scud and Lance missiles shared similar propellants,
warheads, range, and guidance systems. (offline as of 4/11/11)

As I look back now, a lot of years later, I realize my time in the Army was the happiest time of my life. God knows not because I liked the Army and there sure wasn't nothing to like about a war. I liked it for the most selfish reason of all: Because I was young. We all were. Me and Epstein and Wykowski, Selridge, Carney, Hennese, and even Sgt. Toomey. I really didn't like most of those guys then.
But today, I love every damn one of them. Life is weird you know.